Peter Camejo, the Green Party's 2002 candidate for California governor, will take the vice presidential slot on consumer advocate Ralph Nader's independent presidential ticket in a move that could put Nader on the ballot in many more states in November.

Nader announced Camejo's selection at a Monday news conference in Washington, D.C.

"Camejo shares my concerns for economic and social justice, as well as the urgent need to protect the environment," Nader said in a statement. "His work in advancing socially responsible investment shows his understanding of how we can work within our economic system to advance social justice."

Elementary school in Oakland opens time capsule from 1927San Francisco Chronicle

Brides of March walk through San FranciscoSan Francisco Chronicle

WildCare rescues Western scrub jay from rodent glue trapWildCare

The Regulars: The CarpenterJessica Christian

Massive fire in San Francisco's North BeachDavid Essling

Camejo, 64, has proven appeal for some liberal voters. While he attracted only 5 percent of the statewide vote in the 2002 governor's race, he finished ahead of Republican Bill Simon in San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz and Berkeley. He ran fourth in the 2003 race to replace recalled Gov. Gray Davis but impressed many viewers with his defense of the Green Party's progressive views in a televised debate with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and other candidates.

"Peter has shown himself to be skilled in political debate," Nader said, "and I look forward to seeing him debate Vice President (Dick) Cheney and (Democratic) Sen. (John) Kerry's running mate."

But Camejo's appeal to Nader is as much practical politics as shared principles.

Camejo, a financial adviser from Folsom (Sacramento County), is one of two leading candidates for the Green Party's presidential nomination at the party's national convention this weekend in Milwaukee. He has announced he'll try to swing the party's endorsement to Nader, who was the Green candidate four years ago.

While Nader has said he will not accept the Green Party's nomination, he would take the party's endorsement, which could give him the spot on the presidential ballot representing the Green Party in at least 23 and possibly as many as 35 states.

Nader, as an independent, has had a difficult time qualifying for the ballot in many states.

Moving outside the official Green Party is absolutely the right move for Nader, Camejo said in a telephone interview Monday.

"When Ralph has been saying that we're facing a crisis, there are a lot of non-Greens who agree with him," he said. "A lot of those people dissatisfied with Bush and Kerry aren't ready to vote for a Green candidate, so he's reaching out to them."

Nader asked Camejo to join him on the ticket 10 days ago.

"I had to think about it," Camejo said. "I've been campaigning almost full-time for two years, but there were a lot of Greens sending Nader letters asking him to make me his vice president."

What finally convinced him to join Nader's effort was the chance to speak out against the war in Iraq and his growing dismay over Democratic attacks on Nader. Kerry supporters, citing the extremely close 2000 presidential election, have argued that a new Nader campaign would help re-elect Republican President Bush.

"I got fed up with liberals who say the best way to promote their positions is by silencing dissenting voices," Camejo said. "I would never advocate that people don't vote for what they believe in. That's voting against democracy, yet it's exactly what Democrats are calling for."

But some Greens are worried about being labeled as spoilers after a 2000 election where Bush's 537-vote victory over then-Democratic Vice President Al Gore in Florida, a state where Nader collected more than 97,000 votes, made him the president.

David Cobb of Texas, the leading Green Party candidate for president, supports a "safe states" campaign. He argues the Green Party should campaign aggressively in states where Bush or Kerry is likely to win easily, but back Kerry in the battleground states that could decide the election.

"The convention is split because there are a lot of Green Party members influenced by the safe states strategy, which is really a vote for Kerry," Camejo said.

But Camejo said, "That's what I like about Ralph Nader -- Ralph Nader doesn't bend."

If no Green party candidate can get a majority of votes after two or three ballots Saturday, the convention could decide not to run a candidate and endorse someone like Nader, said Nancy Allen, a party spokeswoman.

"A convention shouldn't be a coronation," she said. "There should be a discussion about what's best."

Camejo has been an activist most of his life. In 1967, he was in the middle of anti-war demonstrations at UC Berkeley, where he was expelled the day after he was elected to the student senate. In 1976, he ran for president on the Socialist Workers Party ticket.

As a businessman, he created the first environmentally friendly fund for a major brokerage house, founded the Council for Responsible Public Investment, and heads Progressive Asset Management, which promotes socially responsible investments.